the valley - squarespace

THE VALLEYR i s h i V a l l e y S c h o o l - New s l e t t e r

J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3

1 - FAMILY DAY

2 - F IELD TR IP

Upcoming Schoo l

Events & News

On October 14th, just as the school closed for the winter break, seven students and two teachers went on a short

birdwatching tour to the Point Calimere Sanctuary, located in the Nagapattinam district of Tamilnadu. Known for

harbouring wintering birds like large wading birds such as flamingoes and shorebirds of several species, besides being

located on the migratory route of several thousands of other migrants, winging their way to Sri Lanka, Point Calimere has

been a favourite destination for birdwatchers from all over the country. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) had for

decades using this sanctuary to ring migrants as a part of their Bird Migration programme.

This visit enabled us to experience first-hand, bird ringing conducted by Dr S. Balachandran, deputy director of BNHS, a

seasoned ornithologist, based there. Over the 3-day stay, we witnessed ringing of over 90 individuals of birds in the BNHS

Bird migration station, located there. These included the uncommon birds like the Red-necked Phalarope, Broadbilled

Sandpiper and the Philippine Shrike. Dr Balachandran explained to our students the differences between similar-looking

waders like the plovers and stints, besides familiarising them with the protocols of bird ringing which included collection

of measurements of the bird (length of beak, tarsus, wing and tail feathers, its weight). Examing a wild bird in hand was a

really thrilling experience for our students. Apart from participating in the ringing exercises, we also visited the Sanctuary

as well as the Salt pans and the lagoon and recorded over 90 species of birds including Peafowl, flamingoes, pelicans,

storks, gulls and terns. The wildlife seen included Blackbuck, Spotted deer, wild boar, feral ponies, mudskippers etc. We

also made a brief visit to the Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary in the adjoining Thiruvarur district where over 10,000 water birds

congregated to roost (and nest) on the trees in the freshwater tank. On our return journey we stopped at the Veeranam

Lake on the outskirts of Chidambaram town and again were astonished to see a large roost of waterbirds, easily numbering

10,000 birds. We are grateful to Dr Balachandran and his team for hosting our group at the BNHS Bird Migration Centre at

point Calimere and for his patience in explaining the bird ringing procedures.

There is no end toeducation. It is not thatyou read a book, passan examination andfinish with education.The whole of life, fromthe moment you areborn to the moment you die, is a process oflearning. J Krishnamurti

Bird Migration and Ringing at Point Calimere

The senior students of Oakgrove

school, all the way from Ojai,

California arrived at Rishi Valley on a

sunday before the New Year 2020.

After their misadventures with

luggage and mix up of dates they

finally settled in. The group consisted

of four seniors –Geetanjali, Luna,

Natasha and Jane along with their

staff. They spent a week in school,

interacting with students and staff

and left for Valley School, Bangalore

and Patashala School near Chennai.

The Oakgrove students interacted

mostly with Class 11 and even had the

opportunity to attend classes with

them. The interactions consisted of

an exchange of questions where

knowledge about both schools were

passed around. They also visited the

Rural Health Centre and the Rural

Education Centre. They were quite

moved by these experiences and

expressed a desire that they would

like to come and help out in the

future. They were fascinated to see

India as they were visiting the country

for the first time—they enjoyed both

the cuisine and the culture. They

especially liked the dosa and ate it

with gusto. They also explored the

valley when the went on a hike to

Krishnamurti Sagar Dam with some

teachers and a few students.

We learnt a lot about their school and

about American system of education

from them. Apart from the formal

sessions, we also talked about their

lives, dreams and aspirations. They

joined us for folkie, treasure hunt, the

new year party and the quiz. They

also helped in setting up some games

—we learnt a couple of good ones

from them.

They gave an assembly starting with a

moment of silence (as they do in their

school) and moved on to introduce

themselves and perform a dance that

was choreographed by

ANNUAL V IS IT

WELCOME OAKGROVE !

one of them. After the jolly

performance, they sang songs -

‘Treehouse’ and ‘Here Comes The

Sun’ and a questioning session

started. They answered queries and

profusely thanked us for being very

welcoming.

By the end of a week, we formed a

bond with them by frequently

conversing over meals and classes.

They also had the chance to spend a

night at Girls Hostel and we played

fun games and got to know each

other even better. By the next

morning (which was also the

morning of their departure), a

concrete friendship was formed and

promises of future contact was

made. They also invited us to visit

Oakgrove.

They throughly enjoyed their

experience and were extremely

happy with all the discussions,

activities and events. They left with

happy memories, more than a

dozen mosquito bites and the vow

to come back to visit the school and

India.

Adithi

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A beautiful November at Oak Grove School

JR MUSICAL

EVENING

The junior classes brought forth

their best talent as they

performed in the junior musical

evening celebrations.

It was hosted by class 9 who had

the audience on their toes with

their brilliant puns and jokes.

They kept them laughing for

days! The juniors themselves put

up a marvellous spectacle as

they sang from their hearts. The

songs were mostly regional and

were well chosen to suit the

occasion.

A few memorable hits were the

class and house songs. The

group songs were also well

performed with new faces

singing new songs.

The instruments including

guitars were also beautifully

played by the students.

The teachers also gave their best

with their rendition of an old

Hindi song that left everyone

starstruck. Overall, the event

along with a special dinner left

the children bright and happy

for the night ahead.

Jingle Bells

The seaason’s festivities was

heralded by junior students theme

based decorations of their hostels.

Class 11 brought forth the carols

with high spirits. On christmas eve,

all the students and teachers

toured the valley to catch a

glimpse of the beautiful

decorations put up. Each junior

house featured a special theme

that had been captured by the

ornaments and slogans displayed

in their commen rooms. Raavi

house had a glittery EDM oriented

decoration scheme with tributes to

DJ’s and even a disco fan! Neem

house brought out the Jewish

holiday Hannukha with soft yellow

candlelights and the twelve

candles symbolic of the holiday.

Silver house took a summery tone

with christmas on the beach. They

had pictures of sunsets and waves

and even an awareness corner,

making it seem as though

christmas is better at the beach.

Golden house incorporated social

media into the holiday by having a

‘World Wide Web’ theme which

featured many aspects of the

internet. Palm house had a sports

themed christmas with posters

and jerseys of their favorite sports

stars hung up. Meru and Nilgiri

house had a musical christmas

showcasing facts and the history of

music.

Girls hostel along with Malli and

Takshila adorned their house with

lights, candles and a christmas tree

to bring out their overflowing

christmas joy. Malli house even had

a sock corner where gifts could be

put into hung socks.

Class 11 begann carolling from the

junor hostels, going from Raavi to

CELEBRATIONS

Malli and spreading cheer through

lyrical carols. Santa Claus was

holly and jolly and was ringing a

bell to announce her arrival. They

then proceeded to Radhika akka

and Geeta akka’s houses while

collecting smiles and getting

treats on the way. They were

joined by the alumni of the school

and a few teachers including Valli

akka and Rajan sir. After visiting

the remaining hostels (girls and

boys), they retired around 12:00

AM. Christmas was well spent by

the students and everyone slept

with bright hearts full of

Christmas cheer.

Adithi

New Year’s Eve 2019

On 31st december 2019, the Valley

was in quite a celebratory mood.

The day began with the new year’s

quiz organised by the 9th

standard, followed by a busy

afternoon where juniors took part

in social games and scavenger

hunt organised by the 10th, and a

treasure hunt organised by the

11th. Overall, it was an exhausting

afternoon, but enjoyable

nevertheless for the entire school,

as the spirits were soaring.

That night, students and teachers

alike set their worries aside,

bundled themselves up in layers

of winter clothes, and headed for

the new years eve celebrations.

After eating their fill at a

sumptious dinner prepared by the

dining hall, the juniors settled

down to watch the much

anticipated spiderman movie,

while seniors and a majority of the

teachers made their way to the

senior auditorium.

This years new year’s party

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organised by grade 11, began with

an array of games and activities

organised by the students. Such as

‘Limbo’, ‘Ring Toss’ and bowling.

People thronged from stall to stall,

trying their hand at games of their

choice, while upbeat music blared

on the speakers. An hour and a half

into the evening, 9th and 10th

grade went for a night walk with

their respective class teachers,

while the remaining students and

teachers continued in the

auditorium, and played a few more

games.

Many students and teachers left

behind their inhibitions, and went

on stage to participate in karaoke,

while the audience sang along and

cheered them on. Songs like ‘We

Are The Champions’ by Queen

‘Afghan Jalebi, and ‘Country Roads’

were some of the favourites, and

almost everyone sang along with

much enthusiasm!

Then, the lights were dimmed and

the music began, and the most

popular ‘Folkie’ dances took place.

Under scores of strings of pink and

blue lights, everyone danced their

feet out, while some of the

students and faculty of Oak Grove

School tried their hands at the

dances too. Although Folkie takes

place every weekend, there was

something special about dancing

together on New Year’s Eve. After

folkie we played a few more fun

games -- the night was cold, but all

the running around left everyone

warmed up.

Then, with hot glasses of coffee and

chocolate fudge, people settled

down around the bonfire. Under

the soft glow of the fire, slow songs

were sung accompanied by a

guitar. At the stroke of midnight

people rushed to wish each other.

What better way to end yet another

year and decade, than being

surrounded by the happy smiling

faces?

The Tuesday Junior SchoolAssemblies are mostly teacher

assemblies that are attended by

students from Prep to Class 7.

Tanuj Sir started the term by

speaking of some dos and don’ts,

mainly about the need to be

prepared in different ways before

the teacher arrives in the class.

Derek treated us to a beautiful

story with his trademark sentence,

“...and he walked and he walked

and he walked”. In addition to his

own special music he had with

him a friend, Mike, who

accompanied him on the base

guitar lending an ethereal quality

to the experience.

Ranjit Sir gave an assembly of

building a story simply through

postures and guided by individual

interpretation.

Geeta Akka’s assembly on Xmas

Eve was about the Christmas spirit

very beautifully brought out

through a story of Dr Seuss.

Meenakshi Akka introduced

herself and spoke about her

involvement with Rishi Valley

which has gone through three

stages in her life, first as a student,

then a parent and now as Director

of the school.

On Pongal there was a celebratory

air to the assembly. The junior

auditorium was decorated in

traditional style and teachers

spoke about what Makara

Sankranti means back in their

native place. Teachers sang

regional songs relating to the

occasion and Joshi Sir chanted

mantras dedicated to the sun.

ASSEMBLY CORNER

Sonali Akka spoke about the

music of Cuba and gave a

background to its history and

culture which shows up in the

various types of music played

there. She played songs of four

musicians.

In the Thursday Junior SchoolAssemblies, the magical space in

front of the Prep section becomes

a beehive of various presentations

by the students of Prep to class 6.

There was a short skit in English

by the class 5 students and

recitation of English poetry by

class 4 and 6 students.

There was a Taekwondodemonstration by Induvadana of

class 6B. Children read out

interesting facts about this martial

art form.

Keeping in focus the diversity

within the school, regional

language poems was recited by

teachers and students.

There were two sessions of the

rather breathless JAM (Just a

minute) and its younger sibling

HAM (Half a minute) in which

students of class 4, 5 and 6 tried

their impromptu story telling

skills.

Some keen discussions have taken

place in Thursday Middle SchoolAssemblies this term by the Class

7 and 8 students.

Ahaan and Bilva of class 7

presented an assembly on Greta

Thunberg. They talked about her

journey so far, her vision for the

planet and her plans for action in

the near future.

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Prajna and Ashra of Class 7

presented an assembly on M.F.

Husain. They talked about his life

and career and described a few of

his paintings in detail.

Naail, Devesh and Jidvish of class

8 spoke about the genre of

electronic music, its history,

evolution and current status.

Saturday Junior SchoolAssemblies this term had a spread

of regional language stories, poetry

and songs, presented by teachers

and students of the various states

of India.

On two occasions we got to see the

rich diversity of languages and

cultures that exists in the school.

Konkani, Oriya, Marathi, Nepali,

Kumaoni, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu,

Malayalam, Sanskrit, Asamia,

Bangla, Manipuri, Gujarati, Punjabi

and Garhwali were

represented.

The children were shown video

clips by Sai Jagan Sir, of the

gymnast Olga Korbut and the

legendary Ice Skating couple

Sergei Grinkov and Ekaterina

Gordeeva.

JUNIOR AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS

SENIOR SCHOOL

Tashi did first student assembly of

the term on various forms of

bullying. He explored both the

victim’s and bully’s psychology in

each case, and concluded with

sharing various solutions.

Vanya’s assembly was on CHIRAG,

a NGO in Uttrakhand she used to

go to. CHIRAG (Central Himalayan

Rural Action Group) deals with

primary education in remote rural

areas of Uttrakhand.

Abeni’s assembly was on a NGO

she visited in Tanzania which

works on waterconservation. She

talked about the interactions she

had with the Maasi tribe.

Kirtana and Sanjushree spoke on

modern art. They showed various

pictures of different artists through

the initial years of this artistic

movement. The artists whose work

they showed included legends like

Piccasso. They also touched upon

our perception of ‘good’ art by

slipping a piece drawn by

Sanjushree in the presentation

which managed to elicit a long

drawn wow of greater intensity

than other artists in the slideshow.

Raavee and Anshika dwelt on

abortion and the legalities

concerning it. They provided an

unbiased opinion with reasons

both for and against abortion. They

also talked about the issues faced

by women regarding

contraception and abortion.

Bharati’s assembly was on the

book Nudge. She talked about

fallacies and biases and the 2

systems of thinking (autonomic

and reflective) in human behaviour

and ways to nudge people to do

the right thing in subtle ways.

Safdar shared a few aspects of the

ancient Egyptian civilisation - few

characteristics of their culture, and

their mythology.

Sanan and Sanjula spoke about

critical thinking, and how to verify

the authenticity of a claim, at a

time when it is quite necessary.

ASSEMBLY CORNER (CONTINUED)

Xara and Abeni spoke about

growing islamophobia around he

world with focus on India. They

talked about the recent

developments in the country’s

situation and

the change in the constitution

and what it means for Indians.

Shoneq and Madhura, presented

a brief overview and history of the

Baul music prevalent in West

Bengal. They performed a baul

song ‘kichu din mone mone’, and

displayed some Baul instruments.

Ayaan portrayed a shocking,

revealing and informative picture

of Big Data and Analytics, focusing

on Cambridge Analytica in

particular. He warned how our

data is now a commodity, and

described a few steps we can take

in order to guard against targeted

media and leave a smaller digital

footprint.

Vivek brought up the topic of

ghettoization, both religious and

racial, demonstrating the power of

simple models to predict complex

phenomenon with an open source

modelling software. Dance

Assembly by

Eksheka and Sanjula displayed

varanam (colours) -- words cannot

describe the performance.

Kumaraswamy Sir played

classical music from China that

has few lines of lyrics and

primarily consisted of string

instruments. His reason for taking

the assembly (quite rightly) was

that students usually listen to only

limited genres of music.

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Dr. Meenakshi Thapan presented

her views on the current

controversy of the CAA. She

explained it in a way that made it

accessible to students.

Rahee Akka spoke on the

importance of literature in today’s

society. She recited a touching and

evocative poem which resonates

with today’s problems, and

concluded by playing a song by

Bob Dylan.

Santharam Sir presented a

slideshow of bird photographs, this

time featuring birds from Sayadhri

school.

Derek, the much-loved storyteller

visited with a friend Mike, who is

an eminent jazz guitarist and

complemented his storytelling

brilliantly. He had a new Scottish

folk tale to tell this time.

Sai Sir used the opportunity of

Ramanujan’s birthday to extend

students’ horizons on mathematics,

presenting what is widely

considered his most beautiful

formula. He also touched upon the

Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.

The Drama Club showed a video

and performed too to illustrate the

concept of physical theatre. It was

a forerunner to their upcoming

production, which depended

heavily on this.

Siddhartha Menon Sir who was on

a visit introduced the students to

few interesting aspects of life at

Rajghat Besant School, with his

own poetry to better capture the

emotions associated with the

place. Topics included the

biodiversity, the Ganga, and the

weather, in admittedly British

fashion.

SENIOR SCHOOL

All of us love sports either love to

watch it or love to play it. But do

we know the meaning of sports. Do

we know what sports is? Sports is a

vast subject and for different

sports there are different rules and

regulations, but what is common

to all of them?

Sports is Teamwork and TeamSpirit: even in individual sports a

person is capable of doing things

because of many factors helping

him. Self confidence: without self

confidence neither can we achieve

what we want nor love what we

are doing. Passion anddedication: these two go together.

Talent: this isn’t something

everyone has but can achieve if

they work very hard. Belief inyourself: no one can help you if

you don’t believe in yourself and

don’t help yourself.

Sports isn’t just about playing, it is

about feeling the game and

enjoying every bit of it. In Rishi

Valley we have a nice sports

system for both girls and boys. We

play sports like football, basketball,

volleyball, handball, cricket, tennis,

and badminton. We have

something called seasons which is

a way to divide these sports and

each season lasts for two to three

weeks.

We just had Cricket season for boys

and Basketball season for girls.

Girls had two Basketball externals -

- one was in Rishivalley and the

other was in Madanapalle. Rishi

valley team won both the matches

and the score was 30/10 for the

first match and 52/16 for the

second match. Rhea Rose scored

the most number of baskets.

SPORTS SCENE THIS TERM

The boys they had two externals

and one staff vs student match. In

the staff vs student match

students won with a score of (124

/123) and the highest scorer was

Prabhakar sir (22 runs in 24 balls)

and Jayesh (43 runs in 46 balls).

The first external was against

Valyalpad which was won by

Valyalpad with a score of (144/131).

The highest scorers for this match

were Malleshan (58 runs in 42

balls) and Rishi (66 runs in 52

balls). The last external was played

by the junior team against the

junior team of Valyalpad. This

match was won by Rishi Valley

team with a score of (118/115). In

this match the highest scorers

were Delhi Babu (28 runs in 48

balls) and Ahaan (29 runs in 53

balls).

Now we have football season for

boys and handball season for girls.

And after that we will have

football for girls and basketball for

boys. Apart from these sports if

people want to any other sports

such as volleyball or basketball

P AGE 0 6


(when it is suppose to be some

other season) they can still play.

Sports quality in Rishi Valley is

perhaps falling every year

because the people who play

good either leave the school or

stop playing the sport. This is the

main issue we are facing today,

even if the juniors are learning

they can’t be replaced by the

people who left because they

don’t have the interest and that

dedication to play. They may be

good but their match looks very

dull and sad. This is the only

thing we have to improve in our

system. We need to give sports

equal importance as we give to

any other thing. It may be easy to

study and get good marks but it

is very hard to play with others

mind thinking that what will the

opponent do if I make this move.

Otherwise we have a really good

system for sports and infact good

sports teachers too.

Shreya B

The new Tennis count

7


TRANSFIXED !BY THE ECL IPSE

In the early hours of Thursday the

26th of December, groups of

children gathered in the games

field wearing tinted glasses and

staring intently at a giant screen.

Relax readers, they weren’t

watching a 3D movie, they were

experiencing the last solar eclipse

of the decade!

This spectacular feat of nature

brought out the scientist in

everyone. Students observed the

half-moon shadows cast by the

leaves like a mosaic on the walls..

They made scientific deductions

and experimented with light. Many

observed the reactions the animals

had to this phenomenon. Dhruv,

Tharan and other 11th grade

physics students were doing their

project on this and were tracking

the darkness moving across the

sun. A junior school student and

budding scientist asked me why

bats and other nocturnal animals

weren’t getting triggered by the

sudden loss of light! It really is

true that the best way to learn

science is through nature!

Anagh sir and Karthik sir explained

the side effects of looking at the

sun without proper eye protection

goggles or solar eclipse viewing

shades during the assembly before

tinted glasses were handed out

and everyone was allowed to view

the eclipse.

Sonali akka, the junior school

Geography teacher gave us some

insight on the reactions in the

junior school: “It was a truly

magical experience! The

excitement and awe in the

students’ eyes made my day!”

Krishna

8


K TALKS

Thinking about the surroundings

and being aware of ourself is a

skill everyone should develop. It is

not easy but when you start

meditating and concentrating on

your surroundings, your body and

you start to realise many secrets

of life. Most students don’t like the

idea of meditation and

concentration.

To introduce them into this world

we have a K -talk session once i

every month on Thursday. Since

we have a large number of people

(students and teachers) we are

divided into nine groups. Every

Thursday the topic changes like

the previous group discussion was

excerpts from “This Matter of

Culture.” The second session was

several excerpts on the topic of

sensitivity. My group read a

chapter and the questions started

coming up. What is arrogance? Is

it bad or good? What ideas

Krisnhamurti ji mean by saying

“You have confidence because you

are really innocent?”

What is the difference between

confidence and arrogance? Many

people gave their views on these

questions and tried to understand

what Krishnamurti ji would have

meant. Apart from this we have a

Sunday K -talk session and these

discussions continue there and

people bring up their own

questions and we all start thinking

about them. These talks happen in

Study Centre. Life is just how we

look at it, is it? I don’t think that

because what we look at is limited

and the life on earth is unlimited.

Life is a gift given to us and we

should know how to use it

properly. Many people don’t even

know about themselves, their

culture, language and many

other things. This act of

mindfulness will only come when

we are aware of things. Life gives

us many opportunities and we

lose all of them.

Whenever I go to AIIMS I see many

people stand in the appointment

line since three in the morning

waiting for their turn and after

their appointment they have to

do certain tests like MRI and show

the report to the doctor. Now the

MRI dates AIIMS gives are after

three to four months. And they

have to wait till then ‘cause the

private ones cost a lot of money

and they don’t do it properly. So

the poor people sleep on the

footpath waiting for months and

then their treatment starts. There

is more to it than this, the biggest

is peoples’ behaviour in the

hospital and outside. It is all very

confusing and astonishing.

Humans are so complicated and

their mind set is programmed by

the way they have been taught. I

hope that we humans learn why

we are in this world for? And why

do we need to do certain things

which we do want to?

Shreya B

NEW COMMITTEE

MEMBERS

The reins of school committees

have been handed from class 12 to

class 11 with the unspoken promise

that they will provide their best

interests for it and will help make

significant contributions to the

school.

A new land care committee has

been introduced by the students

taking after fieldwork which was

present in the valley before. It is

headed by Natarajan Sir, Parita

Akka and Ramola Sir along with

student volunteers. Their aim is to

foster a spirit of community

working in the valley through

activities such as litter picking,

subabul cutting and making

compost pits. Movie committeehas started off with a bang by

showing interesting movies to the

school. They are managed by

Rahee Akka, Aniketh Sir, Parita

Akka, Tanuj Sir and Chetana Akka.

Library committee has started

supervising the library and wants

to try new ideas with the help of

Meenakshi Akka, Bijayalakshmi

Akka, Rahee akka and Krishna

Menon Sir. Assembly committeeheaded by Anagh Sir and

Nagammi Akka want to encourage

and improve the quality of

assemblies in the valley. DiningHall committee wants to bridge

the gap between staff of the

Dining hall and students. They

want to reduce food wastage and

get involved in new recipe ideas.

They are working with the Dining

hall manager , Dhanya Akka,

Rajgopal Sir and Valli Akka.

Community service committeewants to make every child perform

community service and help

prepare for school programs. They

are managed by Swati Akka,

Giridhar Sir, Vajahat Akka and Valli

akka. Sports committe aims to

make sports more inclusive with

favourable timetables, increasing

opportunities and new enjoyable

aspects to the games played. They

are closely working with Sunil Sir,

Reddy Sir and Sagai Sir. Lastly, the

Newsletter Committee aims to

revive the newsletter and bring out

monthly editions with the students

hardwork. They are aided by Jyothi

Akka and Rajesh Sir.

Adithi

CLICKS FROM RAMANUJAN MATHS FESTIVAL

PAGE 0 9


Watching a movie every Saturday

has been part of life here in Rishi

Valley School and I have watched

myself grow up, waiting for

Saturdays just to watch the long

awaited movie. Entering Class 11

also has a great benefit, alternate

movies (which are the more serious

movies that are shown only to class

11 and 12) have now become

available to us. The Movie

Committee meets every week to

select a movie that meets all the

requirements to show here; it

needs to be non-mainstream,

mildly educational and enjoyable

to help students wind down at the

end of the week. This term,

students have watched 8 different

movies.

MOVIE SATURDAYS

The next week two movies were

screened; one for the junior school

students and one for the senior

school students. The juniors

watched an animated fantasy film,

The Song of the Sea about a girl,

Saoirse who is half selkie and the

adventures she goes through with

her brother, Ben who initially

doesn’t like her. The movie ends

on a happy note where Saoirse

gives up her selkie powers and

returns to live with her brother

and father. Ben and Saoirse

reconcile and become friends.

PAGE 1 0


The senior students watched

another animated movie- The

Bread Winner. This movie

directed by Nora Twomey was

based on the best selling novel

by Deborah Ellis. Set in a Taliban

occupied Afghanistan this movie

shows the life of a young girl

named Soraya whose father was

arrested unjustly and she cuts off

her hair and transforms into a

boy- Aatish to feed her family

and get her father out of prison.

Though the movie was animated

it didn’t have any of the lightness

that accompanies animated

movies and was enjoyed by the

senior students.

The first movie we watched was

Paddington-2 a light-hearted

animated movie starring a cute

bear living in london who finds

himself in prison due to a

sequence of unfortunate events

where he is being framed for the

theft of a pop up book on London

which he wanted to buy for his

Aunt Lucy for her 100th burthday.

Directed by Paul King, this movie is

the sequel to Paddington in 2014.

This movie was thoroughly enjoyed

by the junior school students and

served as a light movie to start off

the term.

Mirai a 2018 Japanese animated

adventure fantasy movie written

and directed by Mamoru

Hosoda is about a young boy who

feels neglected after his baby

sister Mirai is born. He meets a

humanised version of his dog

Yukko, his sister grown up, his

mother as a child etc and this

changes his opinion and fully

acknowledges that he is Mirai’s

older brother. This film received

mixed reviews from the students;

the ones who were really

interested in Japanese films and

animation really enjoyed this film

where as others did not like it very

much.

The students also saw the first

alternate movie of this term,

Brooklyn. Brooklyn is a

2015 romantic historical period

drama film directed by John

Crowley and written by Nick

Hornby, based on the novel of the

same name by Colm Tóibín. It

features a young Irish immigrant

Ellis Lacey who immigrates to the

United States. Her shy and quiet

personality changes drastically

after she meets a young Itallian-

American Tony Fiorello. Their

romance becomes serious and Ellis

marries Tony before she goes back

to Ireland for her sisters funeral. In

Ireland she is faced by many

hurdles that test her love. The

movie ends with Ellis back in

Brooklyn embracing Tony.

School celebrated the Maths

Festival to commemorate Srinivas

Ramanujan’s birth anniversary.

Accordingly the movie Man Who

Knew Infinity was shown. The

Man Who Knew Infinity is a 2015

British biographical drama film

about the Indian mathemati-

cian Srinivasa Ramanujan, based

on the 1991 book of the same

name by Robert Kanigel.

At the turn of the twentieth

century, Srinivasa Ramanujan is a

struggling and indigent citizen in

the city of Madras in India working

at menial jobs at the edge of

poverty. While performing his

menial labour, his employers

notices that he seems to have

exceptional skills at mathematics

and they begin to make use of him

for rudimentary accounting tasks.

It becomes equally clear to his

employers, who are college

educated, that Ramanujan's

mathematical insights exceed the

simple accounting tasks they are

MOVIE SATURDAYS (CONTINUED)

assigning to him and soon they

encourage him to make his

personal writings in mathematics

available to the general public

and to start to contact professors

of mathematics at universities by

writing to them. One such letter is

sent to G.H. Hardy, a famous

mathematician at University of

Cambridge, who begins to take a

special interest in Ramanujan.

Upon arrival in Cambridge

Ramanujan faces discrimination

and finds life much harder in

England. Ramanujan is then

diagnosed with tuberculosis and

returns to India to spend his last

days.

PAGE 1 1


nothing when her friends crush

Max's snow fort with him inside

during a snowball fight. Out of

frustration, Max messes up her

bedroom and destroys a frame he

made for her. At school, Max's

teacher teaches him and his

classmates about the eventual

death of the sun. Later his

mother, Connie, invites her

boyfriend Adrian to dinner. Max

becomes upset with his mother

for not coming to the fort he

made in his room. He wears his

wolf costume, acts like an animal,

and demands to be fed. When his

mother gets upset, he throws a

tantrum and bites her on the

shoulder. She yells at him and he

runs away, scared by what

transpired. At the edge of a pond,

Max finds a small boat that he

boards. He is met with a series of

adventures where is crowned

king of the wild things. He then

boards the boat again realising

that he is not the king anymore

and is welcomed back home by

his mother.

Yesterday is a 2019 romantic

comedy film directed by Danny

Boyle and written by Richard

Curtis, based on a story by Jack

Barth and Curtis. Jack Malik is a

struggling musician who meets

with an accident and wakes up in

a world where The Beatles never

existed. He uses the opportunity

and sings all the beatles songs as

his own. He rises to fame and

then at the peak of his career

renounces his claim to the songs

and informs the world about the

existence of the Beatles. This

movie brought back the dormant

craze for the Beatles in the valley

and now the Beatles tunes can

be heard with the calls of the

birds at all times.

Kshithija

The next movies shown were

Where the Wild Things Are for the

juniors and Yesterday for the

seniors. Where the Wild Things

Are is a 2009 fantasy drama

film directed by Spike Jonze. 8-

year-old Max, a lonely boy with an

active imagination whose parents

are divorced, is wearing

a wolf costume and chasing his

dog.His older sister, Claire, does

It was in the second term of eight

grade, the first year I had joined

that there was a great buzz in the

air; everywhere I went I heard

“today is Derek’s assembly !”

I thought to myself, “So what?”.

Upon some digging, I learned he

was a storyteller. I didn't know

what to think. Forty five minutes

later I stumble out of the senior

auditorium, my mouth open and in

a daze. My mind was still in the

land of enchanters and

enchantresses, mermaids and

mermen. Four years later I get the

opportunity to interview him, I

grab it with both hands.

Q: What got you interested instorytelling? Derek: (It beganwith like a story) Twenty eight

years ago a friend of mine, Mr

Fredriech invited me to come and

visit a school in India, The Valley

School. The director at that time

Mr Satish, who also happened to

be my friend asked me to do

something for the children: so I

decided to do a story and I quite

liked it, the sight of those 200

happy faces. I came the next year

and the year after that, till now, 28

years.

Q: How do you spend your timein India and what places do youvisit? Derek: I come to India for 9

weeks in the winter and stay in

Rishi Valley for 5 weeks and spend

the remainder of my time at the

other KFI schools (The School

,Rajghat School, Sayadhri and The

Valley School).

As I was coming to Rishi Valley so

often Radhika Akka suggested that

I build a cottage here, I did and

now it is known as Derek’s

Cottage.

INTERVIEW WITH DEREK

Q:What is it about K’sphilosophy that appeals to you?Derek: I had attended a talk at

Brockwood Park (a KFI school

there) by Krishnamurthi where I

briefly met and interacted with

him. Krishnamurthi’s ideas

resonated with my own, specially

about how thought works, and

how it is disruptive in some areas

and constructive in others.

Q: Other than story telling whatare your other interests? Derek:I am very much interested and

good at cooking. In fact , I have

my own establishment in UK, a

restaurant that serves vegetarian

food. I am also interested in

music, I play an assortment of

musical instruments like acoustic

drums, cymbals and of course the

hand pan that you are so familiar

with.

PAGE 1 2


I have attended performances by

the legendary percussionist Zakir

Hussain in the UK and (ironically)

Dave Holland in Mumbai.

The place where I live, Yewfield, a

beautiful lake district in the north

of England, holds the annual

Ambleside Music Festival where

musicians and poets from all over

the world come to perform. This

passion for music led me to meet

and become friends with Mike

who has come to perform at one

of my theatres.

He showed a picture of his house

and guesthouse and I could not

help but comment on the lovely

interior design; he told me that

interior design was another of his

interests.

Aatreya

Derek's Cottage

At nineteen , Atul Sir learnt how to

make soap from an NGO called

Gandhi Gram Trust in Tamil Nadu

while doing his B-Tech. The

learning experience made him

realise that his true passion lay in

making handmade products that

are well received by the masses.

However, times were such that it

was ideally expected of young

adults to take up conventional

desk jobs. This put a halt to Atul

Sir’s ventures in hands-on

manufacturing of products. Years

after this incident, in 2016, he

finally had the opportunity to

resume his passion. When

the new design and Technology

department came up, he saw

greater potential in expanding his

small soap making venture.

While Atul Sir had a soft spot for

soap making , Design and

Technology students Dyuti and

Rhea had a different inspiration.

The sheer amount of plastic waste

created from cosmetics like

shampoos and soaps alarmed

them. Hence they envisaged the

making of a soap cum shampoo

bar with minimal packaging.

This common motive inspired the

three of them to embark upon the

soap making journey. There were

quite a few challenges on the way ,

which had to be carefully

addressed. When a bar of soap for

both hair and body is desired , it

has to perform both cleansing and

moisturising functions , which

happen to be opposing

tendencies. To address this, a

specific blend of different oils had

to be taken to make the soap.

After having made three batches

of soap, receiving feedback from

the students and tweaking the

SIMPLY SABUN

percentages of the oils, an ideal

mixture was formulated,

comprising of coconut oil for

cleansing and lather, rice bran

and sunflower oil for conditioning

,olive oil for moisturising and

neem oil for anti-bacterial

properties.

The soaps are made via the cold

process which requires the soap

to be cured for a minimum of four

weeks. To make the distribution

process more convenient , surveys

had been taken from the students

and staff regarding the demand of

the soaps. The surveys showed

that around 300–400 bars of soap

were required to be made in a

month, which meant around 70 to

100 soaps had to be made per

week. According to that, a

production rhythm was created.

The name ‘Simply Sabun’ was

finalised after great thought. It

was named so for the sole reason

that the product is inherently

simple.

PAGE 1 3


It contains no exotic oils or

butters, everything is locally

available and the whole process

is handmade at home. It is a non-

profit production and is charged

directly through individual Rishi

Valley accounts. This ensures that

the businesses of various SHG

groups such as Marichettu

remain unaffected. After rigorous

costing and calculations, a final

value of Rs 32 for the Basil soap

and Rs 42 for the Lemon Grass

soap has been reached.

Overall, this soap making project

has been thoroughly satisfying for

both the producers and

consumers. It is unfortunate to

see that many of us today have

lost the art of making things with

our bare hands, as we are so used

to purchasing commercialised

products. Small student - teacher

initiatives such as this is what

makes life a tad bit more

enriching, and this entire journey

so special.

-Madhura

the valley - squarespace

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